Vieux Télégraphe Rouge 2010
VIGNERON MAGAZINE – N 48 – PRINTEMPS 2022 – JEAN-LUC BARDE
« Il faut croire en la Crau ! » C’est Frédéric Brunier qui le dit. Il faut dire que le grenache, toujours dominant dans les vins du Vieux Télégraphe, a l’art de la sinusoïde ascendante, malgré cette année-là un rendement plus faible à 25 hectolitres par hectare. Ce cépage procède par paliers successifs, un chapelet d’apogées qui le mène loin dans le temps au-delà de 50 ans. Il atteint ici le premier avec des notes de cerise noire et de jolis amers caféinés, prolongés par des notes délicatement chocolatées exceptionnelles. Un ardent prince du temps. Toujours cette expression nette des saveurs précises, un tempo équilibré. On songe aux accords du clavecin de Scott Ross dans l’une des sonates de Scarlatti, la ciselure ardente et rythmée.
INTERNATIONAL WINE CELLAR –JAN/FEB 13 – #166 – JOSH REYNOLDS
($78) Vivid ruby. Intense red fruit and floral aromas are complicated by notes of anise, allspice and minerals. Sappy and incisive on the palate, offering pliant raspberry and bitter cherry flavors and an exotic lavender pastille quality. Becomes livelier and spicier with air and finishes with supple tannins, outstanding clarity and noteworthy persistence. 94
WINE SPECTATOR INSIDER – SEPT 26, 2012
96 pts – Coated with unctuous linzer torte, warm plum sauce and pure cassis fruit flavors, while notes of maduro tobacco, mint, green fig and toasted anise flitter throughout. This is lush and dense, but well-harnessed through the finish, with a mouthwatering roasted apple wood note and lingering fresh acidity. Best from 2014 through 2030
NEW YORK TIMES ONLINE – JULY 20, 2012 –
Not entirely traditional, but certainly not modern, either. Tannic, but mouthwatering and fresh. Cinnamon and other spices. Balanced and complex. (Eric Pfanner)
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A few years ago I wrote about the grandest bottle of red wine it has been my pleasure to experience. At table with Aubert and Pamela de Villaine in Bouzeron, Aubert pulled out from his cellar a 1961 Romanée-Conti, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Tasting it was a voyage not unlike listening to Pablo Casals playing the Sarabande from Bach’s Cello Suite #2, a voyage serpentine, full of unexpected turns, nooks and crannies, soul-searching, and revelations. The wine, like the music, was deep, profound, ever-changing, truly moving. It was a singular experience, and I was reminded of it when I tasted the 2010 Vieux Télégraphe for the first time last summer with the gifted Brunier brothers.Once again, I had that sensation of a voyage through an aesthetic landscape with surprising twists and turns that covers a great distance before the aftertaste subsides. This classic opens with a voluptuous aroma that gives and gives—it is striking because of its charm and floral notes. How many Châteauneufs can boast of those two traits? By the time your voyage ends, however, you are in a completely different place—deep in the heart of Vieux Télégraphe territory—which is to say big gorgeous tannins and a glorious stoniness. This vintage can compare with any of the domaine’s past vintages including 1978 and 1983. All good things must end, they say, but this stunning wine will be good for decades.
WINE ADVOCATE – (91-94) pts – 31 OCT 2011 – #197
Slightly denser than the 2009 with a deep ruby/plum/purple color followed by notes of crushed Provençal herbs, framboise, kirsh, licorice, pepper and nori. Full-bodied with good acidity and a distinct, earthy / underbrush character, it should drink nicely for at least two decades given the longevity of most top vintages of this wine.
INTERNATIONAL WINE CELLAR –JAN/FEB 12 – JOSH REYNOLDS
93-95. Bright ruby. High-pitched aromas of raspberry, cherry and lavender, with notes of white pepper and anise adding complexity. Very fresh and focused on entry, then deeper and more brawny in the middle, offering sappy cherry and red fruit preserve flavors. This spicy finish displays superb persistence, very good clarity and intense florality.
WINEALIGN.COM (ONTARIO) – JOHN SZABO
95+. The 2007 Vieux Télégraphe is a wine of incredible concentration and length; this will be a wine for the ages. It\’s dense, brooding, a little closed on the nose for the moment, but hints at scorched earth, savoury and sweet baking spice and ultra ripe kirsch, plum brandy, dried herbs and mineral aromas. The palate is full, very full, mouth-filling, dense and richly concentrated, with abundant tannins that are fully coated by massive fruit extract. Value rating : ***
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